Ralph Kerle’s Art Gallery, in association with The Cumberland Manly, is proud to present Art Aperitifs — a new series of FREE weekly cultural events created for our Manly community.

Starting Friday, October 17th, the gallery transforms into a vibrant space for captivating conversations. Connect with friends, enjoy a complimentary drink, and immerse yourself in the worlds of art, literature, and performance.

✨ Event 2: From a High-Stakes NYC Art Lawyer to a Disney-Signed Novelist — Meet Manly’s Matt Riordan

Matt Riordan grew up in a small town in rural Michigan, on the shore of Lake Huron, where he developed his lifelong love of fishing, hunting, and virtually anything to do with the outdoors. He attended high school just over the border in Canada, and then Tufts University outside Boston.

Matt spent much of his early twenties travelling and working as a commercial fisherman in Alaska before drifting through a variety of jobs, including a job with the 1992 Clinton/Gore campaign and a subsequent stint as a White House staffer. Eventually Matt landed in law school in Indiana.

After graduating, he practiced law in New York for twenty years, specializing in the litigation of estate and trust disputes. His representation of the estates of wealthy New Yorkers brought him into the commercial orbit of the New York art world, as he often directed the liquidation of art collections at auction, represented cultural institutions, or litigated the fate of bequeathed works.

He drafted much of The North Line, his first novel, while sitting in New York City courtrooms, waiting for his cases to be called. Since 2019, Matt has lived with his family in the Northern Beaches.

🎟️ FREE event — limited spaces, booking ABSOLUTELY essential!